No Contest Plea In Disney DUI Case

The LA Times reports on a plea of no contest in the case of a man who struck a woman while on her way to work at Disney.

On September 7, 2017, 64-year-old Michelle Landes was crossing the street on the way to her job as an executive assistant when she was struck and killed by a driver who was thought to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

That driver then went on to strike three other vehicles. One of those drivers was badly injured.

Landes was taken to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead.

On Monday, February 26, 2018, Stergios Antonios Economos pleaded no contest to the charges of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and driving under the influence causing injury.

The district attorney’s office also said that Economos admitted to seriously injuring two other people involved in the accident, which began when he ran a traffic light.

Economos will be sentenced on May 7th and faces up to 13 years in prison.

Gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated is always charged as a felony in the state of California. In order to be convicted of this charge, which can carry serious prison time, a prosecutor must prove that a person was driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, committed another unlawful act or an otherwise lawful act that might cause death, and also that a person acted with gross negligence and that negligence caused the death of another person. The charge is punishable by between 4 to 10 years in state prison. An additional sentence of 3 to 6 years may be added if another person is injured.